


I Would Be Crowned King

by codedredalert



Series: In These Warring Times [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Coming of Age, Culture, Drama, Friendship, Gen, Magic, Magical Bonds, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Slow Build, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7914736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codedredalert/pseuds/codedredalert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Emperor wants Prince Kageyama Tobio dead. The only way for him to keep his life and his honour is to be truly recognised as king of Crowfield. Easier said than done, especially when he accidentally takes Hinata Shouyou-- a young, barely-trained soldier from the mountains—as his Champion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

The door to the dungeon opened and Kageyama looked up from pacing his cell.

“General,” said the guard.

Kageyama rushed to his cell door and pressed his face against the bars to see sideways down the narrow corridor. Sure enough, General Iwaizumi had just walked into the dungeon, in full armour and court tunic.

“General!” shouted Kageyama, gripping the bars tightly. “I didn’t break the law. Please listen!”  

Iwaizumi looked in his direction.

“General!” Kageyama repeated, more urgently.

“Goddamn, sir,” remarked the guard to the general. “I’d just gotten accustomed to the pacing and muttering. If there’s going to be shouting all night, I’m going to ask for a raise.”

Iwaizumi looked back at the guard.

“You’ve already asked for a raise, Hanamaki. I’ve got three requests sitting on my desk, all from you.”

“Well sir, I’ve got three more if your answer is no.”

“General Iwaizumi! Please!” Kageyama stepped on the horizontal bar of his cell door, trying to get a better angle to see the general and guard. Iwaizumi looked in his direction again, but he couldn’t make out Iwaizumi’s expression with the low light and distance. “Please hear me out!”

Kageyama’s shout echoed slightly against the stone walls, and Iwaizumi’s head dipped. His hand came up to run through his hair and he sighed.

“Could you step out for a while?” Iwaizumi asked Hanamaki. Hanamaki scoffed.

“Thought you’d never ask, sir.” There was the light cling of keys and Iwaizumi caught them in one gloved hand. “Take your time, I’m going to eat.”

Hanamaki left and Iwaizumi walked down the corridor towards Kageyama.

“The witches raised a leviathan, I had to force the connect. There was no other way, but Kindaichi, Kunimi—the men in my unit all dropped the connect. I don’t know why, they just—” Kageyama lost his words as Iwaizumi came to a stop right outside his cell and looked him in the eye. “I shouldn’t be here, sir,” he finished lamely, trailing into a mumble.

“I agree,” said Iwaizumi, and he unlocked Kageyama’s cell door.

Kageyama stared.

“His Imperial Majesty decided to execute you.” Iwaizumi stood back to give Kageyama space to enter the corridor. “I told him he was a plague-ridden fool and came straight here to get you.”

Kageyama stepped out of the cell, brow furrowed in confusion. Iwaizumi was the Emperor’s best friend and bonded Champion, so if anyone could get away with calling the Emperor a fool to his face, this was the man. Still, the Emperor was always exceptionally harsh when Kageyama was involved, and letting Kageyama out of the dungeon would definitely not go unpunished.

“Why?” asked Kageyama.

Iwaizumi squeezed his eyes shut as if fighting an oncoming headache.

“You’re young, you were desperate, that idiot sent you on an impossible quest anyway and he knows it. The list goes on.” He gave Kageyama a push. “Let’s go, we don’t have time.”

Kageyama nodded, and walked towards the exit.

If Iwaizumi came straight from court while it was still in session, there was a chance that the Emperor and all the noble lords and ladies were still there. If Kageyama challenged the Emperor in front of them, there would be no way to refuse without losing face. And once he won—

Iwaizumi caught the back of Kageyama’s shirt collar.

“Woah, there. Where do you think you’re going?” asked Iwaizumi. “That’s not the way to the gate.”

“I’m going to see the Emperor,” Kageyama explained, over his shoulder.

“Did you miss the part where I mentioned he wants to kill you?”

“No, but—”

“And what the hell do you intend to do when you see him, anyway?” Iwaizumi let go of Kageyama’s shirt. “If he listened to reason, I wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m going to duel him.”

Iwaizumi stared at Kageyama for a full second before whacking him in the back of the head.

“Idiot!” hissed Iwaizumi. “God, between the both of you idiot brothers, I’ll have a full head of white hair by thirty. You want to duel him! You and what Champion?”

Oh. Kageyama rubbed the back of his own head, half-ready to duck in case Iwaizumi tried to hit him again. The Emperor had Iwaizumi as his Champion. Kageyama had no one.

“I didn’t think of that,” he admitted and Iwaizumi scoffed.

“I thought so,” he said. “I have a better plan. I have two horses waiting in the stable, one tacked to ride and the other as a pack horse. I’m going to throw you in a sack and smuggle you out.”

“And then?”

“And then we cart you off to the west or something. Somewhere you can lay low. I don’t know, I haven’t exactly had the opportunity to plan this out.”

It was probably still the smarter plan, but Kageyama’s pride rankled at the thought of turning tail and fleeing.

“I am a mage and a prince,” he replied hotly. “I’d rather challenge the Emperor for the throne and die trying than hide in fear for the rest of my life.”

Iwaizumi sighed and then lunged forward. Kageyama took a step back, but Iwaizumi was faster, wrapping an arm around Kageyama’s neck in a chokehold and twisting behind Kageyama to throw his weight back. 

“Sorry.” Iwaizumi’s words were short as Kageyama thrashed and fought for air. “We don’t-- have time.”

The stone walls of the castle faded to black.

 

===/\===

 

Kageyama woke to water being sprinkled on his face and the pink light of a holy rosewater vial. His first instinct was to kick out, but his training kept him still. Observe first. 

Iwaizumi was kneeling in front of him in near-darkness, now wearing simple cotton clothes instead of his armour. The air smelt musty and enclosed. No other people that he could see. His throat felt tender and hurt when he swallowed. His head felt light.

“You alright?” asked Iwaizumi, examining Kageyama’s face by the light of the rosewater.  “You were out for longer than I intended. Can you tell me your name and where we are?”

Kageyama pushed himself up to sit a little straighter from where he was slumped against a wooden wall.

“Imperial Prince Kaelen of Greencastle,” said Kageyama slowly. “I don’t know where we are, but we were last in the castle dungeons, and then you attacked me.”

Iwaizumi scoffed and sat back on his heels.  

“If you’re feeling well enough to pick a fight with me, you should be fine,” he said, keeping the vial back in his belt pouch. “We’re in an abandoned woodcutter’s house, well outside the city walls, and half-way to the river. I don’t expect you to thank me, but if you intend to head back, I have no problems with knocking you unconscious again.”

Kageyama looked past Iwaizumi. Without the rosewater light in his face, he could see flecked moonlight coming in through a broken window, dappling a single wooden table, a chair and an empty fireplace. There was a sagging mattress, with damp hay spilling out.

“Is this where you want me to hide?” asked Kageyama, vaguely disgusted.

Iwaizumi shook his head.

“Just a place to rest. You’ve made your thoughts on living in hiding very clear.” Iwaizumi stood and took two steps to the table. He picked up a sword and offered it to Kageyama. “There is still one nation in the empire that has an empty throne. If you claim the Crowfield crown in time, your brother won’t be able to demand your head.”

Kageyama stood and took the sword. It was his own, he could tell by the balance. He belted it to his waist.

“No objections?” asked Iwaizumi.

It still felt like running away, but Iwaizumi looked at him sternly. Iwaizumi was committing treason against his beloved Emperor just to see Kageyama live.

“No objections,” grumbled Kageyama quietly.

“Good.” Iwaizumi returned to the table, where he packed provisions into a cloth bag. Food, a flint, rope, and rosewater. “I’ve sent word to Crowfield, explaining the situation and asking for an escort. General Dagan is a good man, I’m sure he’ll send someone.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then I change my mind about letting you fight the emperor, or you change your mind about living incognito.” Iwaizumi held out the bag for Kageyama to take. “But hopefully it won’t come to that, because you’re stubborn as hell and god knows I’m worse.”

Kageyama took the bag.

“Alright,” he said.

They mounted the horses outside and continued on their way. The trail was soft with decomposing leaves and dampness, and the horses’ hooves made only dull thuds. The canopy cut out the moonlight, and in front of Kageyama, Iwaizumi and his brown horse all but disappeared into the trees. 

Kageyama started the incantation for floating light.

“No light spells,” warned Iwaizumi, without turning around. “The Emperor would have people on our trail by now, we don’t need to make ourselves any more visible.”

“Ah.”

Kageyama let the spell die but kept his head down so he wouldn’t get whacked across the face by a low-hanging branch.

The wind picked up, rustling furiously through the leaves. There was a crack of thunder, and the rain came in a rolling whisper from the direction of the city. The rain was cold but not unbearable as it soaked through Kageyama’s cloak, though it did make it more difficult to see. 

There was another crack of thunder, and then there was the unmistakable call of a hunting horn.

“Curses!” Iwaizumi turned his horse around suddenly and Kageyama nearly crashed into him. “The dogs will be coming.”

“We can take a few dogs,” responded Kageyama darkly.

Iwaizumi looked at him.

“What is the matter with you tonight?” Iwaizumi frowned. “You’re not usually so…”  

“What’s the plan, General?” Kageyama interrupted before Iwaizumi could find the word he was looking for.

Iwaizumi took a moment to think, and his horse took a step back, chomping on its bit. He petted it on the neck absently.

“Ford the river,” he concluded, voice raised just enough to be heard above the patter of rain on the leaves above. “Further north, there’s a ford marker where crossing brings you directly into Colmvale. Keep your head down until you get to the Giants’ Ruins where the Crowfield escort should be waiting.”

“The Ivheron border is closer if we are escaping a pursuit,” Kageyama pointed out. Iwaizumi shook his head.

“Stay out of Ivheron. Ivheron’s general would jump at the chance to hand you over personally to the Emperor. Pass through Colmvale quickly and quietly. You’ll be fine once you reach Crowfield. They won’t give you up, they have too much pride.”

“Ah.”

“Don’t ‘ah’ at me,” said Iwaizumi sharply. “You need to remember this. I’m going to turn back, stall the hunting party a bit.”

There was a moment where there was just rain, and Iwaizumi wiped the water from his face with the back of his hand. Kageyama almost wanted to blurt out “that’s treason”, but Iwaizumi likely already knew. His expression was steeled as if he were about to ride into a great battle.

It was a ridiculous impulse anyway. This whole ordeal was treason, starting from the moment he had unlocked Kageyama’s cell.

Iwaizumi paused and clapped his hand on Kageyama’s shoulder. “Ride fast but remember this old girl here is no war horse. Take care, Kageyama.”

He didn’t say “see you again” but Kageyama nodded.

“Take care.”

Iwaizumi pulled up his hood and clicked his tongue, heading back towards Greencastle.

Kageyama watched him go until the warhorse’s hoofbeats were indistinguishable from the rain. The dirt trail was turning to mud, so Kageyama kept the mare at a quick trot. He couldn’t risk the horse going lame, no matter how important speed was.

As the path twisted through the forest, Kageyama’s mind went to whom Iwaizumi would face. Captain Kayne “Mad Dog” usually led the hunts, but he also made it no secret that he would rather take Iwaizumi’s orders than the Emperor’s. If it was a direct order from the Emperor to take down Iwaizumi, would Mad Dog obey? Would Iwaizumi be willing to fight so hard for Kageyama, or would he surrender?

There was shouting and dogs barking in the distance, almost drowned out by the rain.

The mare balked. She dashed forward and Kageyama had to grab her mane to keep from falling off. Suddenly, she stopped, rearing, Kageyama just managing to cling on. She skittered backwards before standing in the line of the trees, tossing her head uneasily.

The trees had opened to the river.

The river was swollen with water, dark grey and loud as it snatched at the sides of the riverbanks and carried on anyway. The river was maybe ten horse-lengths wide, and the summer rains and snow-melt had fed it well. The water flowed swift and steady.

It was… a lot of water.

Kageyama looked up-river, to the north. He couldn’t see far in the rain and darkness, but there was no ford marker that he could see. If there was one, it had probably been swallowed by the brimming river.

Kageyama peered downstream. He couldn’t see it, but he knew there was a bridge much further downstream which led straight into the heart of Ivheron.

The dogs bayed. He had no time.

Kageyama backed his horse up further and looked at the river.

Kageyama had had lessons in magework and strategy, when he was younger. The teacher had been a severe man with lines on his face and a belly that was starting to show, but his mind was sharp as a blade.

“The first trick to fighting,” said his teacher, “is to do what your opponent would not expect.”

Kageyama took a breath and urged his horse to a running jump into the river.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont think i have to say this but please dont strangle your friends thanks. also[ on tumblr](http://highfantasyhaikyuu.tumblr.com/post/149732151029/i-would-be-crowned-king-pt-1-haikyuu)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: moral ambiguity and ambiguous minor character death.

The water hit like a wall of ice.

He lost his breath all at once, the cold biting into him like knives. His cloak bloomed in the silvered water, dragging him down by the neck. The world muted. In the embrace of the river, there were stones being tumbled across the bottom, churning together, a melody to the backdrop of the now-distant roar and the fall of rain.

Kageyama pulled at the cloak even as he sank, his sword and clothes weighing him down. The clasp was a finicky one, and worse when his hands were clumsy from the cold. His lungs were burning from lack of air. Frustrated and out of time, he forced the cloak up and over his head, lost for a while in darkness and fabric blinding him, one more barrier to the air he desperately needed. The last bit of air was squeezed out of him, escaping as silver bubbles as he tossed the cloak and let it flap downstream through the water like some strange fish.

He broke the surface of the river gasping and immediately got a mouthful of water. His sword pulled heavily at his waist, threatening to drag him under again. His mind filed through his memories, for a spell, any spell, but the moment he tried to hold onto one, his attention was snatched away. He was freezing. 

“ _Swim_ ,” Kageyama hissed to himself. He couldn’t feel his hands or feet, but he forced himself to kick out clumsily. The cold sank into his bones with a brittle, almost sour pain. He couldn’t see his horse. He knew a spell for that, of all the things to remember right then. A spell for lost things.

Kageyama spoke the incantation through the occasional mouthful of water and chattering teeth. A purple light glowed downstream, closer to the Ivheron side than Kageyama. He felt a sense of relief and let go of the spell. The horse wasn’t drowning, he could focus on getting himself to shore.

Kageyama had learnt to swim young, from summers by the lake which backed the imperial castle. Even then, it took all his effort to keep his head above the water. The other river bank seemed to near only by an inch at a time. His sword was a nuisance, whacking his legs every time he kicked out. He was going to be a mess of bruises.

As he neared the bank, he realised it rose more steeply than he had thought, looking at it from the other side of the river. There was no foothold and the river flowed fast and deep. The flooding river had reached some of the trees’ low branches though. He could use that. He didn’t have much of a choice.

Once he was close enough, he made a grab for the branches. The moment he lifted his arm out of the water, his sopping wet sleeve pulled down as if it were lead instead of cloth. He barely touched a few of the low-lying leaves.

Kageyama grit his teeth and put more effort into his second attempt. His fingers closed around a branch which felt disconcertingly thin.

The river threw Kageyama’s weight behind the branch and Kageyama’s shoulder protested. Twigs and leaves snapped off as Kageyama struggled against the pull of the water, but the branch didn’t break. He managed to get a hold on another branch with his other hand and pull himself onto the bank.

He stood there for a moment, the fatigue catching up to him suddenly. His clothes felt like they weighed a ton. The rain was almost warm compared to the river, and now that he was marginally less cold, he could feel a stinging on his cheek and in his palms. He opened his hands to the moonlight and sure enough, scratches lined the inside. The soft bit between his thumb and index finger was bleeding on his right hand.

Iwaizumi had packed rosewater. Kageyama remembered seeing him put it into the pack he had given Kageyama, before Kageyama had placed it in the saddle bag.

Kageyama sighed, and used the trees as handholds to help himself up the side of the riverbank. So much for keeping the items safer than if he had carried the pack himself. He just had to get his horse again. He would have needed to anyway, he would never have made it to Crowfield on foot. Not with the Emperor’s men in pursuit.

He cast for lost things again, and the purple light shone a good distance downstream and still moving. Kageyama picked up his feet and ran for it, mind already flipping through options. It had been difficult getting himself out of the river, how was he going to drag his horse out? If he went in again, he might end up drowning them both.

Well, he had blood, an abundance of trees, and half a bramble trap incantation. It had to be enough. Kageyama stopped and planted bleeding palm to the earth. He envisioned the purple light, and the horse swimming near the bank.

 _Hold_ , Kageyama thought forcefully, imagining the branches growing and encasing the horse. Downstream, the horse whinnied its distress at this strange predicament, high pitched and the kind of sound that could be heard for miles. A hunting dog’s bay answered, disturbingly loud and nearby. Kageyama bit the inside of his lip to keep his concentration and carried on running to his horse.

Lights danced among the trees on the Greencastle side, swifter than Kageyama. He could make out words, people arguing, their voices carried across the river despite the light rain.

“Cross the river!? … insane, you are. If we go … lose the dogs!”

“The mutts … swim, can’t they?”

“Not … the river … like this!”

They didn’t seem to know exactly where he was yet. Kageyama dimmed the purple light, and tried to stay behind the treeline. Adrenaline sharpened his mind. He wasn’t caught yet. If he was smart about this, there was still a chance to go undetected.

“We’ll lose him … stupid woman!”

“I’m not losing the Emperor’s dogs to your idiocy!”

The lights broke through the line of the trees, illuminating two mounted figures, and several dogs.

“You want to be the one to report to Mad Dog that we couldn’t find him? _After_ he’s lost another fight to the general?” snapped the soldier. He was armoured lightly, and holding a lantern.

“Why the hell not, coward? I’m not afraid of him. Besides, General Ila can’t possibly fight all four of them by himself, unless you soldiering lot are as useless as you look.” Ah, that’s why the voice was familiar. The kennel master had been assigned to handle the dogs. She had a lantern as well.

The trackers passed by the horse, unable to see it in the mess of trees on the other side of the river. Kageyama breathed a sigh of relief as he reached his horse, immobile but safe in the unnatural weave of branches. Kageyama put his hand to the earth again, and gently guided the branches to help the mare ashore.

“Wait, did you hear that?” said the kennel master.

Kageyama froze but his horse didn’t know any better. The mare, footing found, crashed through the trees as she climbed up the bank.

The trackers broke their argument and raised their lanterns, heads turned in his direction. Kageyama’s heart raced. They had seen him.

“The flare!” shouted the kennel master. The soldier swore and tried to fish for it in his saddle bag one-handed. “Give me your lantern, idiot!”

 _Can’t use fire_ , Kageyama thought to himself, strangely clear in his mind. _The flare would ignite and that’d signal everyone_.

Reaching out, he felt the potential of the earth sleeping beneath their horses’ hooves. He had always been good with earth. He didn’t need an incantation for this.

 _Bury them_ , he ordered, pushing with his magic.

The trackers didn’t have time to scream.

 

===/\===

 

Kageyama spent the night dodging the patrols throughout the Ivheron states. Those he couldn’t dodge or flee, he hit hard, and fast. Rapid escalation, like his tutor had taught him. It was why one mage was worth an army.

As he travelled north, the neat agricultural fields of Ivheron gave way to wild plains and then dying weeds. Kageyama came to the sprawling structures of the Giant’s Ruins just as the sky began to lighten across the river.

It had once been a city of mages, and even ground to its bones by war and the weather, its history showed. Toppled towers, when reconstructed in the mind’s eye, defied logic. Many buildings still glowed with a weak orange light along the joints, amidst their broken beams and spilling stones. Stairs wrapped around the outsides of houses, and not a single door was quite on ground level.

Above the caved-in rooftops, standing tall and lonely in the centre of the Ruins was a clock tower. Unlike the rest of the city, it was clear this one had stayed standing through sensible construction, a simple cylinder going up a reasonable height, topped by a square platform with a clock face.

There were no plants or animals to be seen. If the Crowfield escort was here, they left no trace. Kageyama and his horse might as well have been the only living things in the city. 

The clock tower seemed a sensible landmark to meet at, Kageyama decided as he nudged his horse to walk in that direction. If the escort wasn’t there, he could climb the tower. If he still saw no sign of them from that height, he could carry on to Crowfield alone.

The streets to the city square were narrow and winding, turning and splitting at odd sections. Some of the signs in the shops were still legible, flaking paint announcing “Apothecary. All wares are church approved.” or “Brienne’s Books and Teas” or just simply “BONES”. On each sign, below the Imperial Standard lettering, was a mess of what looked like bird footprints— Crowfield’s local writing script, presumably saying the same thing.

Kageyama was tempted to stop and check the shops for any provisions that might have been left behind, but broken windows and useless doors told him he wasn’t the first through here to have that idea. He also wasn’t sure if he had the strength to keep going once he stopped, he’d fallen asleep in the saddle more than once during the night.

Eventually, the lane opened to the city centre. There was a fountain, completely dry, and the remains of an inn, its decking rotting from exposure to the elements. Faded banners hung from the buildings, the crow and sword mere sun-bleached ghosts of their former splendour.

Dismounting stiffly, Kageyama looped his reins over the fountain and walked to the clock tower.

Five steps from the tower, stone slabs groaned and forced themselves out of the sides. The whole tower shifted, the central pillar of support emptying itself to form stairs that spiralled upwards to the now floating clock platform. The edges of each stair glowed, and the mechanics of the clock were now exposed, suspended in brilliant orange light.

Kageyama stumbled back and raised his hand to shield his eyes to the sudden flare of light.

Damn. He _had_ thought that the architecture of the tower had been far too ordinary. Anyone within a ten-mile radius would have seen that. Though, now that the tower was already activated, it would be a waste to not use it.

His enemies would be after him now either way, Kageyama decided. He would just have to be quick. He jumped onto the first step. It gave slightly under his weight, but stayed suspended. He hopped a couple of times, testing how well the step held up. When the tower didn’t come crashing down on top of him, he decided it was safe enough. Nonetheless, Kageyama readied the short incantation for feather fall in the back of his mind. He wouldn’t have the time or strength to cast anything stronger if he actually _did_ fall.

“Well, that doesn’t look very safe,” commented a deep voice.

Kageyama spun round, nearly falling off the stairs.

There was a man, hooded against the intermittent rain and atop a dark horse. The clock tower’s light reflected across his chest where his cloak parted. He was armoured. Kageyama hadn’t even heard him approach.

He was also holding the mare’s reins.

“Hello there,” said the man politely, as if he hadn’t just stolen Kageyama’s horse. Kageyama might have said something to that, but the man had a lance held directly on Kageyama, its metal tip gleaming. Kageyama wasn’t stupid.

To cast earth with any sort of precision without an incantation, he needed had a hand to the ground, and the man would kill him before Kageyama could move. Lightning was quick, quicker than this man could be with his lance, but likely to kill the horses too. Fire had the same problem. Kageyama grit his teeth and glared at the man.

“As unlikely as it seems in our circumstances, I would actually like to keep our meeting civil,” said the armoured stranger, still in that light, friendly tone. “What do they call you, friend?”

“Prince Kaelen of Greencastle,” answered Kageyama. “And you?”

The armoured stranger chuckled.

“You’re an honest one, your Imperial Highness,” he said, raising his lance to a neutral position. “I am General Dagan of Crowfield, personal name Sawamura Daichi. Feel free to call me Daichi.”

“Daichi,” repeated Kageyama, testing the name on his tongue. There was a resonance in it, the man hadn’t lied. Kageyama reached out with his magic, searching for--

_\-- A wide field, grassy. No flowers, but it wasn’t the season for them. Houses, wooden and small. Marshland at the edges of the field. It was a place of peace. Simple, but content. The winds across the field were the pages of a book rustling. --_

Daichi jerked back.

\-- _The village shrank into the distance, tiny dots on the horizon, then nothingness. In the distance, a book slammed shut_. --

“Rumours of your prowess were not exaggerated,” commented Daichi flatly. His hood had fallen off when he had moved in rejecting the connect. He was younger than Kageyama had expected, with that deep a voice, couldn’t be past late twenties. His hair was cut short, and he wore two black feathers on a string like a circlet. “For future reference, asking before initiating a connect is generally considered a common courtesy.”

Kageyama looked away.

"I had to be sure," he mumbled. His fingertips smarted like they’d been snapped shut on. The connect had been true. The man before him really was Sawamura Daichi. “Anyone can claim to be someone.”

“I understand, but it’s still not something you should do.” Daichi’s gaze was solemn and disapproving. “I know it’s not custom in Greencastle to give your real name, but it is here. I don’t want you thinking that gives you free reign to jerk others about.” 

Kageyama nodded, then realised he hadn’t given his personal name.

“Mine is Kageyama Tobio,” said Kageyama. “Well met.”

Daichi inhaled and his gaze lightened somewhat.

“Well met. If you would rather go by Kaelen, or another title, just let me know.”  

“‘Kageyama’ is fine.”

“Kageyama,” acknowledged Daichi.

The wind rushed past them, whistling through the empty streets leading to the square. Kageyama glanced towards the city’s southern gate, in the direction of Ivheron.

“I met several patrols on my way here,” said Kageyama. “I haven’t sighted any for a few hours, but they would have seen the light from the tower. We shouldn’t stay long.”

“Mm,” hummed Daichi. “I just need you to answer one question, if you would.”

“Alright.” Kageyama was confused at this request after he had shared the urgency of their situation, but Daichi still had the mare’s reins.

“I am on amicable terms with Iwaizumi, but I was quite surprised to receive a letter from him in the middle of the night,” started Daichi. It was padding for a question that was sure to cut. Kageyama had seen enough of the Emperor’s politicking to know, though it was not a skill he had himself. “The letter was short on explanation, so please tell me, Kageyama. Why should I accept someone who has never stepped foot into Crowfield as my king?”

Oh, was that all? Kageyama had been expecting worse.

"I would be a military and political asset,” supplied Kageyama readily. “Crowfield hasn't had a mage-king of lineage for a significant amount of time, that would change if I hold the crown. I am capable of leadership, and my ability as a mage is one of the greatest in my generation, if not the greatest."

“Excellent pitch.” Daichi smiled. “Unfortunately, not what I need to know. I’ll be more direct. Could you love my country?”

Kageyama’s mind went blank for a moment and he just looked at Daichi’s features, lit by the dancing light of the tower. Love a country? Did he have to have an artistic appreciation for its geological features? A ruler’s appreciation for its mineral resources?

The weight of Daichi’s stare was even and heavy. Kageyama could feel the weight of responsibility on the general’s shoulders, similar to that of the Emperor's when he was lost in thought in the war room.

Kageyama frowned.

Why did it matter? He could serve his purpose regardless.

“I don't know,” confessed Kageyama. “I’ve never loved a country before and I don’t think I have to. But if it’s necessary, I will do it.”

There was a pause, then Daichi’s horse tossed its head and snorted and the lines of Daichi’s shoulders relaxed.

“Nice to know that even with the Emperor's wrath hanging over your head that you'd be honest," he said, wryly. "I don’t dislike you, Kageyama. I do, however, think this is a decision that is not up to me. Saadya—our regent—is a good ruler and a good mage and he loves Crowfield dearly."

"And you think he should be king," finished Kageyama.

Daichi looked at him, expression unreadable.

“The regent is a good judge of men.” Daichi’s tone was measured, his words chosen carefully. “And I think he will be a fair judge of whom the best ruler for Crowfield is. Even with circumstances as questionable as yours.”

Kageyama’s heart dropped like lead thrown into the winter sea.

In that moment, he had no doubt. Daichi knew about the leviathan incident. Daichi knew about Kageyama’s unit choosing to disconnect, to be torn to pieces by a witches’ construct rather than stand by him.

Kageyama didn’t even know if they were alive. When Iwaizumi’s unit had found them, Kageyama was barely on his feet after somehow felling the leviathan. After that, he didn’t remember much, except Iwaizumi bodily holding him up, the Emperor’s face, scornful, and then the dungeons.

“Is this going to be a problem?” asked Daichi, watching Kageyama closely. "You seem unhappy.”

Kageyama grit his teeth, trying to account for this new turn of events.

“It’s fine,” he replied. What else could he say?

Daichi sighed.

"Well, that’s enough talk, I should think,” he said. “I don't want to standing here like a lame pigeon when the Emperor's men arrive, regardless of how strong a mage you are."

“Yes,” agreed Kageyama, grateful that Daichi was not going to pursue the topic.

Daichi nudged his horse to walk over to Kageyama and he dropped the reins in Kageyama’s hands.

"We’ll follow the river home," said Daichi, expression gentling. "If anything happens, just keep it on your right and you'll come to Crowfield."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also [on tumblr](http://highfantasyhaikyuu.tumblr.com/post/151429693939/i-would-be-crowned-king-part-2-haikyuu)! Come say hi or see ~extra content~

**Author's Note:**

> hi here's the [tumblr for this AU](http://highfantasyhaikyuu.tumblr.com) come say hi~  
> eternal thanks to my beta [ Moe](http://little-shuffles.tumblr.com/) for dealing with my screaming all the time


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